U.S. stocks open higher amid merger, tech news

NickGodt

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, as investors cast aside inflation worries and set their sights on a new tie-up of Whole Foods Market Inc.
wfmi
and Wild Oats Market Inc.
oats
and upbeat news for the technology sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, +0.45%
rose 13 points to 12,749. The S&P 500 index
SPX, +0.64%
gained 1.7 points to 1,459, while the Nasdaq Composite
COMP, +0.65%
advanced 7.3 points to 2,525. Whole Foods Market gained 7.6% while Oats surged 17% after news of their tie-up. Tech stocks received a lift after Analog Devices Inc.'s
ADI, -0.29%
upbeat outlook earned it an upgraded from Citigroup. Apple Inc.
AAPL, +0.42%
and Cisco Inc.
CSCO, +0.57%
also rose, after the companies agreed to settle their dispute over the iPhone name.

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